Environmental Graduates Struggle to Find Jobs in Quintana Roo

Environmental Graduates Face Severe Job Shortage in Quintana Roo

Quintana Roo, Mexico — Only 40% of graduates from the most recent class of natural resources and environmental engineering programs at the University of Quintana Roo (Uqroo) have managed to enter the job market, according to interviews with recent graduates.

Those interviewed revealed that in some positions they obtained, they are able to apply the knowledge acquired after four or five years of intense academic preparation. In contrast, the remaining 60% end up left behind and accept jobs unrelated to their professional profile in order to have income to cover their daily expenses.

Former students lamented that they have not been able to secure positions in their area of specialization.

Affected individuals indicated that in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco, there are very few agencies where they can work according to their environmental training.

They stated that institutions such as the College of the Southern Border (Ecosur), the National Council for Educational Development (Conafe), the Potable Water and Sewerage Commission (CAPA), and the National Forestry Commission (Conafor) should be the main entities offering job opportunities to graduates of these academic programs.

However, they criticized that access to these limited spaces often depends on influence and family relationships.

One of the interviewees assured that these jobs are only accessible if you have connections, adding that he has been looking for work as an environmental engineer and it is very difficult to access if you don’t have contacts.

“Those who work in some agency do so because their mother, father, or even an uncle already works in the institution, even if it’s in cleaning tasks,” affirmed A.P.C.

Faced with this situation, many professionals have been forced to migrate to municipalities such as Benito Juárez, Playa del Carmen, or Cozumel, where most vacancies are linked to the tourism sector.

M.M. recounted that, as a natural resources graduate, he only managed to get a job as a gardener in a residential subdivision of Benito Juárez, since the maintenance and watering of green areas was the closest thing to his academic preparation.

However, other graduates of the degree did not have the same luck and therefore work in something unrelated to what they studied.

Pablo E. commented that, in a moment of desperation, he had no alternative but to accept a position as a lifeguard at a well-known beach in Cancún.

Likewise, another graduate of the environmental engineering career stated that in a span of just five months he went from working as an Uber driver to serving as a gas station attendant, since necessity forces them to work in other areas.

The dissatisfied individuals pointed out that the scarcity of job opportunities for professionals with their level of specialization reflects the lack of interest of the state government in addressing the environmental crisis facing southern Quintana Roo.

They warned that the disorderly growth of the urban sprawl, the lack of wooded areas in new neighborhoods, and the constant sinkholes during the rainy season are consequences of not generating jobs for those who specialized in these disciplines.

“Everything is tourism, they don’t think about the environment. Don’t they know that it depends on environmental balance?” concluded M.M.